Sara D. Roosevelt Park

Image:Sara D Roosevelt Pk jeh.JPG

The site was previously occupied by walk-up apartments and before that, an African-American burial ground.{{Cite news|last=Shapiro|first=Gideon Fink|date=December 10, 2014|url=https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/manhattan-robert-moses-park-jane-jacobs-park-design-sara-d-roosevelt-park|title=We Found Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses' Love Child|website=Next City|access-date=March 21, 2018|language=en}} Part of it was once the Dutch Reformed Church Cemetery.

The land was originally acquired by the city of New York in 1929 for the purpose of widening Chrystie and Forsyth Streets and building low-cost housing, but was instead used for parkland. The park was named for Sara Roosevelt, the mother of Franklin D. Roosevelt, in March 1934, despite her written objection.{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/03/14/95037169.pdf |title=Aldermen Name Park For Roosevelt's Mother |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 14, 1934}} The park was completed in September 1934.{{Cite news|date=September 9, 1934|title=Roosevelt Park Will Open Friday; Mother of the President Will Speak at Exercises on Chrystie-Forsyth Tract|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/09/09/archives/roosevelt-park-will-open-friday-mother-of-the-president-will-speak.html|access-date=February 25, 2023|issn=0362-4331}} It was designed under the leadership of newly installed Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, landscape architect Gilmore D. Clarke, and architect Aymar Embury II.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/timeline/robert-moses-modern-parks|title=Robert Moses and the Modern Park System (1929–1965) : Online Historic Tour |publisher=NYC Parks |language=en |access-date=March 21, 2018}} The original design placed an emphasis on athletic fields and "active recreation" spaces for children, such as wading pools, with separate areas for boys and girls.

In later decades, community groups adapted the park to various uses. In the 1980s, the park suffered from crime and drug problems, until a community effort revitalized it.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/nyregion/sara-roosevelt-park-nyc.html|title=This Manhattan Park Was Once a Gem. Now It's a 'No Man's Land.'|last=Hu|first=Winnie|date=July 15, 2022|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 6, 2022}} The Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition, formed in 1982, established the M'finda Kalunga community garden in 1983, and has initiated several other initiatives. Another group, the Forsyth Garden Conservancy, has built several smaller gardens inside the park since the mid-1990s, including the Hua Mei Bird Garden, where songbird owners congregate.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/nyregion/thecity/15bird.html|title=They Know Why the Caged Bird Sings|last=Goldstein|first=Ishai|date=July 15, 2007|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 21, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Between 2005 and 2022 the park received $11.4 million of improvements from the parks department. In 2022, The New York Times reported that the park had become "a catch basin for the city's crime and drug problems and homeless crisis".

The park offers playing surfaces for several sports, including a basketball court, roller skating rink and a soccer field. There are two full-court basketball courts between Houston and Stanton streets, followed by a children's playground, and then another two full-court basketball courts between Stanton and Rivington streets.{{cite web | url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/permits/field-and-court/issued/M105 | title=Field and Court Usage Report for Sara D. Roosevelt Park : NYC Parks }} The latter two courts are painted colorfully, following a collaboration between Nike, the New York Parks & Recreation Department, and New Jersey street artist KAWS.{{cite web | url=https://hypebeast.com/2016/11/nike-kaws-new-york-made-stanton-street-courts | title=Nike Enlists KAWS to Redesign New York City's Stanton Street Courts | date=November 9, 2016 }} The park is also the home of the New York City Bike Polo Club.{{cite web|url=http://www.nycbikepolo.com/|title=NYC Bike Polo|website=NYC Bike Polo|access-date=September 8, 2017}}

The park had a service facility which included a public restroom until 1994, when it was closed.{{cite web|last=Hobbs|first=Allegra|date=September 7, 2017|url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170907/lower-east-side/sara-d-roosevelt-park-stanton-storehouse-community-center|title=Talks Begin to Restore Sara D. Roosevelt Park's Stanton Street Storehouse|website=DNAinfo New York|access-date=September 8, 2017|archive-date=September 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909010021/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170907/lower-east-side/sara-d-roosevelt-park-stanton-storehouse-community-center|url-status=dead}}

In the park, just south of Stanton Street, the M’Finda Kalunga Garden honors the memory of an African-American burial ground that was located on nearby Chrystie Street between Rivington and Stanton Streets. A commemorative plaque was installed in 1983.

Across Forsyth Street from the park, between Stanton and Rivington Streets, was the "Garden of Eden", a community garden during 1975–1985 created by local activist and environmentalist Adam Purple.

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Sara Delano Roosevelt Park}}

• [http://nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/park_info_pages/park_info.php?propID=M105 Sara D Roosevelt Park information] at the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Website.
• [https://forgotten-ny.com/2020/02/sara-d-roosevelt-park-chinatown/ History of Sara D Roosevelt Park] at the Forgotten NY web site
• [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/15/nyregion/sara-roosevelt-park-nyc.html "This Manhattan Park Was Once a Gem. Now It's a 'No Man's Land.{{'"}}] The New York Times, July 15, 2022

{{Protected areas of New York City|state=collapsed}}

{{Chinatown, Manhattan}}

{{Lower East Side}}

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Category:Lower East Side

Category:Parks in Manhattan

Category:Robert Moses projects